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Supports:
Tier 1: Alistar, Soraka, Leona, Taric, Janna,
Tier 2: Blitzcrank, Nunu, Yorick, Morgana, Lux,
Tier 3: Lulu, Sona, Fiddlesticks, Galio, Kayle, Gangplank, Annie, Karma,
Change Log:
Alistar moved up in tier 1 -I firmly believe that he's the #1 support right now. He's got AoE sustained heal which is not only spammable in lane but even for pushing towers. He's got the ability to initiate team fights or disengage them. He's a pseudo tank for your team just by pressing R and he can zone out enemy carries from a team fight quite easily with him Headbutt + Pulv combos. The only thing bad thing about Alistar is that he's not a ranged champion and he's a melee. That's literally his only downfall. His passive even allows him to push harder vs towers, hold the wave when your AD carry has to go back to base with easy last hitting and AoE clearing. I think that if you're not first picking him for support in competitive play in almost every situation you're doing something wrong because he's just so valuable as a pick and picking him early also allows you to hide your AP, Top lane, and Jungler picks so you can counter those other roles. While Alistar really has no counter for the most part. The only way to counter him is to burst him down with someone like Leona or maybe a Taric who have high bursts for support but even then you can go heavy into the defensive tree and stack armor and just have a trigger finger ready on your R button and you'll be fine. He's the all in one support covering everything you'll ever need. Hence his spot on the list now.
Lulu moved down to tier 3 - Since her nerfs I don't believe she's as good as a support. I think she's still a very good AP mid / support similar to a Soraka or a Janna middle for a protect the AD carry comps but I feel like they nerfed her maybe a bit too much for her intended role which was supposed to be a support. I think possible more AP nerfs to her ratio's but buffing her support kit in some ways could really benefit her in ways of being a "True" support champion.
Leona has been moved up to tier 1 - You wanna kill things as support <--- Pick this girl then. But Elementz girls are weak and they don't kill things.. DO YOU NOT WATCH GAME OF THRONES? HAVE YOU NOT SEEN LADY BRIENNE OF TARTH MURDERING MEN LIKE IT'S HER JOB? Well that's basically what Leona was based off of. Her kit allows her to be naturally tanky with only really having to stack HP to be a true tank gaining massive armor and MR from her W. In lane combined with someone like Corki or Graves at level 6 it's almost a free kill every time. Her passive damage bonus helps you burst harder then any other support / ad combo out there. Her initiation is also the best out of any support combined with a heavy amount of CC this champ was made kill lanes and that's exactly what she does. She's a true tanky support and she's worthy of tier 1 in my opinion.
Janna moved down in tier 1 - I like Janna. I think she's pretty good. What I don't like about Janna is her laning phase which I feel is pretty weak and I have to say that winning your 2v2 battle bot lane and getting your AD carry fed is a BIG part of doing your job as a support. Now granted Janna has great peeling and kiting and is basically built for protecting people but when a Leona/Taric/Alistar jumps on you in lane regardless if you're in your own tower or not Janna WILL die. This is my issue with her. She's a FANTASTIC team fighting support. I think she's actually the best support for team fighting actually as her counters to melee champions and any champion with high AoE damage (Kennen, Nunu etc..) she just stops them in their tracks with the best disengaging kit in the game. That's why I am going to keep her in tier 1 but I feel she's incredibly weak vs any kill lane combo and kill lane combo's are what's winning bottom lane I am finding. If you're not extremely careful you'll fall behind and your AD carry will be getting fed on rather then feeding on the enemy. Again though I feel she's really good outside of lane and isn't THAT bad in the laning phase but I do feel the need to move her down a bit due to her laning phase not being the strongest.
Sona has been moved down to tier 3 - I think she's actually kinda bad now.. She's like the last resort when you absolutely need sustain for a poke comp or something. I feel like her base stats are so low that she's a 100% free kill for any kill lane and not like in theory she's 100% kill I mean if you land any kind of chain CC on her combined with any sort of damage she will die because she's so weak stat wise and has no real peel or escapes on demand other then summoner flash if you so choose to take it (you should it's good on her :p) I feel that her sustain is still super good and the damage from her passive and Q is quite strong but the stats and no escape just urks me to no end. I almost feel that E should be changed to a dash sort of ability and whatever she hits when she dash's is either slowed, or sped up, depending on what she hits friend or foe. Not only would this make her a lot more fun, I think it would solve her current issues for being a truly viable support.
Yorick has been moved up to tier 2 - YORICK OVER SONA? THIS IS MADNESS! Well I have a good reason for this actually. You see I think Yorick is the ultimate counter to non sustain lanes (except Sona he can beat her). His damage output and self sustain is very high for just his base abilities. Meaning when you don't really have any items yet he's gonna poo poo all over your face and I can tell you that's not something you want to have on your face. Even vs sustain lanes like Soraka and Taric he does not bad either. Soraka is a bit harder to beat then Taric, Alistar is impossible to beat if he has armor reds and yellows, but he really can poke almost every support out of the lane and you'll be surprised how many kills you can pick up bot lane with him. Now ontop of a great overall laning phase his team fight is good too. He can peel and kite with his W for anyone that dives your carries and then guess what if they die..? JUST REZ EM UP WITH THAT ULTI! And they come back for 10 seconds of win. I think his ultimate is really underrated for what it can do and if you have a fed carry from that laning phase it makes them all that much deadlier. Now granted you must correctly use this ultimate before they die to utilize it correctly but when you do you'll see the greatness that is Supporick. I actually have a guide up on www.lolpro.com which you can check out by simply clicking on his name here (Yorick) and going to the support guide by me and you can actually check out lots of guides on lolpro for the champions on my tier list!
Morgana has been added as a support and placed in tier 2 - Now tier 2 might be a bit high for this gal but I think she's pretty decent as a support. Q binds are great for stopping initations / poking, W is a good lane control and sustain for herself, E is a magic denying shield.. It's made to support haha. R is great for initiation or even peeling for your carries that are getting dived on. I really think Morgana could step into the competitive scene but no one has the balls to do it yet.. Not even me haha. I am going to start playing her more in solo queue and see how she fairs but I think she has the potential to be a good support in the right situation.
Fiddlesticks has been added as a support and placed in tier 3 - I actually saw M5 have great success with a Fiddlesupport in a tournament match a few weeks ago and it really got me thinking. His kit is great for peeling and surviving. His damage isn't half bad either base. I will be experimenting more with him just like Morgana but I believe he can be viable in the right situation just like Morgana.
Galio has been added as a support and placed in tier 3 - CLG used to run Galio support from time to time and I think it still has it's niche. I am trying to get all the somewhat supports added to this list as it's looking kinda small so inc Galio to the support tier list!
Definition of a support:
- A champion who often duo lanes bottom with a ranged AD carry who helps protect allied champions, zone enemy champions in the laning phase, or provides team utility later in the game.
- These champions get gold per 10 items to make their gold as they won't be taking any gold from last hitting minions as their job is to make sure their AD carry gets farmed.
- Supports will be buying the most wards for the team and will often carry the summoner spell Clairvoyance for added vision across the map.
- Some of these champions are also quite good at roaming and will often leave the AD carry alone to roam the map and gank.
Don't see a champion listed in the tier list who you consider a good competitive support? It's probably because I don't and other competitive teams don't value them as competitive picks. Want to raise an argument for why a certain champion should be considered for the competitive list just post below and let me know why in a constructive way!
"No one, not even pros, can presume to know everything. Whether they promote or discourage a character is subject to debate at all times. These debates are encouraged in a respectful manner as we're trying to create the best tier lists possible for your enjoyment." Stonewall - Elementz
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